A New Beginning
by oakenshieldmaiden
Summary: Hinata is nervous on the day of her wedding. Who is the groom? Please read all the way through: it's not long, and he may not be who you think he is.


She stood at the end of the long aisle, trembling like a leaf in a winter wind, her pale fists clenched around a thick bouquet of pink and white wildflowers.

_I can do this._

Her sister stood to one side of her, a pale green dress falling in waves over her small form. As she felt Hinata's gaze, Hanabi turned and gave her a reassuring smile.

_I can do this._

The murmur of many quiet conversations floated out to her from inside the small chapel, where so many of her friends and a few relatives waited. For her.

_I… can't do this._ She bit her lip, wishing she could run away. They were all expecting her to float down the aisle in a ridiculous dress—what was she thinking when she had let Kurenai talk her into this gauzy white thing falling so low off her shoulders—and she couldn't do it. She inhaled sharply, and tried to backpedal, when she felt a firm hand on her bare shoulder.

Hinata looked up into her father's face. Hiashi's expression was stern as ever, but there was a hint of emotion in his pale eyes. Sorrow, maybe? _Is he unhappy with me?_ She swallowed hard at the thought of his disapproval, something she had fought against all her life, something she had tried to make him forget.

But then, Hiashi patted her shoulder, somewhat clumsily as he was not used to showing affection, and took her arm. _No. He's not angry. _

A new sound began, swallowing up all other noises; it took Hinata a moment to realize that it was the Wedding March, her summoning. She stiffened, and found that it was difficult to breathe. Her bridesmaids—who they were she could no longer remember—began down the aisle in their pastel colored dresses.

Suddenly her father was slowly leading her after them, holding onto her tight, as if he understood that he was just about to let her go. Hinata resisted half-heartedly, but she was too petrified to put up a real struggle. The pounding of her heart was so loud in her ears it was dizzying. _Thump-thump. _She swayed, and Hiashi steadied her.

Her soft slippers scuffed against the crimson carpet.

_Thump-thump. Thump-thump._

She couldn't make herself look at the blur of smiling faces on each side, so she stared straight ahead.

And met his smiling eyes. The throbbing in her ears stopped altogether and her face turned darker than the carpet. He was looking directly at her, with that knowing, teasing gaze that made her feel silly and frightened and embarrassed all at once.

_What did I do to deserve this? To deserve him?_ Hinata felt her fear melt away; he wanted _her _and nothing could change that, nothing could take it away. Or her wanting him.

How _long_ she had wanted him. Those days as a blushing, nervous girl, hanging about him, not fully understanding her feelings for him but knowing that they were real and stronger than anything she had felt before. All thoughts of anyone else had been blotted out that day, the day when she had realized that he was all that she needed and—

He was grinning at her. _Scared? _His intense eyes seemed to ask.

No! She smiled back tentatively. Scared? Of _you_? Hinata had never feared him. Others might have thought him a bit strange, maybe, but Hinata knew better. He had always looked out for her, he had always believed in her and it was his belief that made her strong.

Hiashi stopped suddenly, and it took a moment for her to realize that he was speaking in a thick voice shaking with emotion. He kissed her cheek with cold lips, and released her arm from his tight grasp.

She was moving forward, half-conscious, to the side of the man she loved more than life itself. There was a brief silence, and he took her hand in his warm, comforting one.

And then, just as her father had released her, Hinata gave herself up. Gave up being solitary Hinata and started being someone else. A new person, half of one whole, part of a bond that could never be broken, no matter what came. A part of him, just as he was now a part of her.

"I do," she heard New Hinata say, in a firmer voice than she had ever used. She turned, and beamed at her lover's face. _This is all that I need_.

"Do you, Kiba Inuzuka, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? For richer or for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do you part?"

She stared up into the eyes of her best friend, her dearest companion, and believed his answer with all of her heart.

"I do."


End file.
